Naptime for Babies: 5 tried and true tips

Naptime for babies: 5 tried and true tips for a happy sleepy baby.

Ahhh! Naptime! I remember those days! It was the golden time of the day. When my baby took their nap that meant I could shower. Yes! I could work out. Yes! I could actually sit on the couch and watch something that wasn’t a cartoon. Yes! Truth be told though. I am really starting to miss those days since my youngest one will be in Kindergarten this year. No more naps in this house. In fact, I try everything in my power now to make sure no one is napping because if they even close their eyes for 10 minutes they won’t go to bed. Now my golden time of the day is 7:30 pm when they lay down and go to sleep for the night.

I made the sign above which is a door bell cover from my ETSY shop for a new mom last week which got me thinking about naptime and the few tricks I’ve learned along the way. So if you are struggling to get your angel baby down for their nap, I hope these tips help. I’d love to hear in the comment section any other tips that you might have too!

1. Understanding Cues.

This was probably the hardest one to figure out but once I did it made all the difference in the world. Look for his cues before the major meltdown happens. For my kids it was their yawns. If we got to the third yawn and they weren’t in the process of being laid down then it was a fight to get them to sleep. He might rub his eyes. He might lay his head down. He might get wound up. You have to pay attention through out the day for those unique cues and get them into bed before they freak out. Schedules are super important and babies thrive on them but look for their cues and be a little flexible.

2. Lights Out.

Say NO to the night light! Invest in some blackout curtains or shades to simulate nighttime during the day. I swear this works. With my 2 older girls I kept their room completely dark and still to this day they know when it’s dark in their room, then it’s time for bed. With my youngest, I had him sleep with a night light. I think the only reason was that I found a really cute one on Jane.com. I really wish I wouldn’t have because he struggles going to sleep in the dark. He has gotten better but there are nights that he wants to door open so some light can come in.

3. Massage.

Studies show that babies and toddlers who enjoy a 15 minute massage before bed fall asleep faster than those children who were read a bedtime story. All 3 of my kids did so much better at falling asleep when I’d give them a light massage. I did this every night after their baths and used this oil. It smells delicious and soaks into the skin really fast so it’s not super messy. Naptime was a little tricky because they didn’t get the full little massage out of the bath tub. But what I would do is just rub their backs when I was rocking them before I laid them down.

4. Singing.

Your baby loves hearing your voice and lullaby’s soothe them. Now I am the WORST singer out there but I still sang to my babies everyday.

5. White Noise.

We used this white noise machine from day 1 with all of our children and it helped so much. It has 6 different sounds, white noise being one of them, and just a little tiny light on the top so it’s not bright at all. We love it.

This darling DOOR BELL COVER is perfect for the any household with a sleeping child 🙂 You can see it here.